DR. MACLEAN'S 

BACCALAUREATE SERMON. 



PRINCETON, MAY 15, 1859, 




A SERMON 



PREACHED IN THE CHAPEL OF THE 



COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, 



AND 



AN ADDKESS 



TO THE 



MEMBEES OF THE SENIOR CLASS, 



MAY loth, 1859. 



BY JOHN MACLEAN, 



PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE. 



Published by Request of the Senior Class. 



TRENTON, N. J., 

MURPHY k BECHTEL, PRINTERS, OPPOSITE CITT HALL. 

1859. 



\^f.^ 



1^' 



JAM 21 1921 J 



• Nassau Hall, May 16th, 1859. 

Rev. Dr. Maclean : 

Dear Sir: — At a meetiug of the Class of 1859, the nnder- 
signed were appointed a committee to request, for publication, a 
copy of your Baccalaureate Sermon and Address, delivered yester- 
day in the Chapel. 

Hoping that you will comply with our request, we remain, 
dear Sir, 

Most sincerely yours, 

OTIS B. WEBSTER, 

J. NEWTON DICKSON, ^ Committee, 

WM. B. WRIGHT, 



To Messrs. 0. B. Webster, J. Newton Dickson, and Wm. B. 

Wright, Committee of the Senior Class: 

My Dear Sirs : — In compliance with your request, I place at 
your disposal the manuscript of my Sermon and Address of the 
15th instant. 

With the best wishes for the welfare of every member of your 
Class. 

I am most sincerely and affectionately 

Yours, 

JOHN MACLEAN. 
May 20th, 1859. 



■* 



SEKMOIS^ 



1st Corinthians, ix., 25. " And every man that striveth for the mastery is tem- 
perate in all things." 

In this passage there is an allusion to the ancient 
games of Greece. The members of the church at 
Corinth could not fail to take notice of the allusion, 
or to perceive the lesson which the apostle would 
have them learn from the fact mentioned in the text. 
For ages the Isthmian games had been celebrated, 
with great splendour, almost within the precincts of 
their city. JSTo one was permitted to enter the lists, 
unless he had submitted to the prescribed disciphne : 
and no one was crowned, however successful, unless 
he conformed in all respects to the established rules. 
During the contests, the combatants were encouraged 
by the presence and the applause of the immense 
concourse assembled, from all parts of Greece, to wit- 
ness their exploits, and to bear home in triumph the 
successful competitor. To these things the Apostle 
also alludes in his 2nd Epistle to Timothy ; and again 
in the Epistle to the Hebrews. " And if a man 
strive for the masteries, yet is he not crowned, except 



ha striYe lawfully. '^ — 2 Tim : ii. 5 . ' ' "Wherefore seeing 
^ye are also compassed about with so great a cloud 
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the 
sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with 
patience the race that is set before us."' — ^Hebrews 
xii. 1. 

The severity of the discipline to which the com- 
batants subjected themselves ; and the import of the 
phrase ' temperate in all things,' may be learned from 
a passage in the Enchiridion of Epictetus, chapter 
xxix : 

"Would you be a victor in the Olympic games? 
So in truth would !.■ — But consider both the things 
which precede and those that follow : and so make 
the attempt. You must live by rule ; eat as you 
are directed ; abstaiu from dainties ; exercise at 
the appointed hour, in heat and cold ; not drink 
cold water, nor wine at pleasure : and in a word, 
you must submit yourself to your master as to a 
physician.'"^ 

In these ancient games, none were permitted to 
take part, but freemen of Greece, or those of Grecian 
descent. I^ot so however in the contest for the crown 
of life. In this contest there is no such distinction. 
It is open to all : — to the Greek and the Jew, to the 
Barbarian and the Scythian, to the bond and free, to 
male and female, to old and young. 

- — '■«*»» ' — — — — — — — - 

*See Upton's Epictetus, page 710. London, 1741. 



These allusions to the restramts imposed upon the 
competitors for the Olive, the Laurel, the Pine, or the 
Parsley, were not intended to teach us, that those, who 
aspire after an unfading crown, must regulate their 
conduct by the rules of the G-recian games : bijfc. merely, 
that as in these games, none could obtain the object of 
their ambition and of their strenuous effort, without 
great self-denial ; so in the christian contest none 
could expect to be conquerors, who failed to obtain 
an entire ascendanc}^ over their appetites and pas- 
sions. Xor are we to infer from his allusions to the 
conduct of those who took part in these games, that 
the object at which they aimed was approved by the 
Apostle ; or that professing christians may without 
any impropriety engage in like diversions. When 
the Apostle commends* to the notice of the Corinth- 
ians the self-denial of those who strive for the mastery, 
he adds, "now tlieij do it, to obtain a corruptible 
crown, but we^ an incorruptible'^ — plainly implying 
that he and the christians at Corinth had no part in 
these struggles for earthly distinctions : and that they 
had a nobler and higher end in view. 

Between the christian's course and the course of 
him who strove for the mastery, there was in some 
respects a striking analogy. Of this resemblance the 
sacred writer avails himself, to point out and to 
illustrate the christian's duty, in view of a given case ; 
and to excite him to emulation in matters in which 
emulation is lawful ; and to ur^-e him not to be out- 



8 

done by one, whose aim was to obtain a perishable 
crown, and the fleeting honours and distinctions con- 
sequent upon its acquisition ; while his high aim was 
a crown of life, which will endure forever. 

The object of the Apostle in adverting to these 
matters was to incite the christians at Corinth, to 
acquire that self-command, which is necessary to the 
attainment of any high aim : and which is especially 
necessary for those who aspire to that glory, honour, 
and immortality, the right seeking after which is to 
be rewarded with eternal life. 

Without some considerable degree of self-control, 
some subordination of the appetites and of the pas- 
sions, nothing truly honourable or useful can be 
achieved by man. It is true indeed, that men charge- 
able with almost every crime that can blacken human 
character have risen to great influence and power, 
and have left indelible memorials of their deeds and 
of their infamy. But in these cases, the passions 
have sometimes been bridled, and the appetites 
curbed, even if it were with the set purpose to give 
them the reins, when the end of the temporary self 
denial should be gained. 

Did Alexander the Great conquer the world, before 
or after he gave himself up to debauch ? Did he 
impose no restraints upon himself, when engaged in 
the execution of his mighty projects ? And did not 
the want of self-control deprive him at once of his 
conquests and his life ; and, at the very height of his 



ambitious career, lay his glory in the dust? The 
history of this man is a confirmation of the position 
which I have assumed, viz : that success in every 
great enterprise must be purchased at the price of 
self denial. Having mentioned the defeat of Darius 
at Arbela and the entrance of Alexander into Perse- 
polis a certain writer observes : ' ' From this time the 
glory of Alexander began to decline. Master of the 
greatest empire in the world, he becomes a slave to 
his own passions, gives himself up to arrogance and 
dissipation, shews himself ungrateful and cruel, and 
in the arms of pleasure sheds the blood of his bravest 
generals. Hitherto sober and moderate this hero 
sinks to the level of vulgar men.'' 

If in a case like the one just presented self-denial 
be requisite to ensure success, how much more es- 
sential must it be, where the aim is to effect some- 
thing honourable or useful. It is the law of our 
nature that we must labour in order to make any 
valuable attainment. The remark is true in regard 
to every walk in life. Who makes proficiency in his 
studies, the indolent or the industrious ? Who rises 
to affluence, the lounger at places of public resort, 
or the man who devotes himself diligently to his 
calling? Diligence in business implies self-denial, 
and when the self-denial is proportionate to the 
capacity of an individual the result of his dihgence 
will be greatest possible. I do not mean to assert 
that a man of irregular habits will in no case accom- 



10 

plisli any thing useful, but that strict temperance is 
necessary to the highest possible result. 

Would you excel in your respective callings ? You 
must be temperate in all things. You must do as 
others have done before you: yes, you must first 
conquer yourselves. "What gave Demosthenes his 
pre-eminence among .the orators? Was it merely 
his great natural powers ? Was it not rather 
his untiring diligence, and his self-denying efforts ? 
With intemperate habits, especially had they existed 
in early life, would Newton, Locke, or Boyle have 
reached that high eminence which they attained as 
inquirers into the mysteries of matter and of mind ? 

Had Roger Sherman, the shoemaker, been a man 
of idle and dissolute habits, would he have become 
the distinguished senator, with but few equals among 
the most eminent statesmen in our land ? 

Had J^athaniel Greene, in early life, been a victim 
of appetite, would he have risen, from his humble 
position at the anvil, to the first rank among the 
leaders of the American Army ? 

Had the printer, Franklin, been an idler, would, 
his fame as a philosopher and statesman have been 
the admiration of Europe and America ? 

Where is the man to be found, who by the mere 
power of intellect, without application and with some 
degree of self-control, ever arose to eminence ? The 
seeming exceptions serve only to confirm the rule : 
and even in the excepted cases there have been 



II 

periods in tlieir lives, when rising superior to the 
cravings of appetite and passion, they have laboriously 
devoted themselves to the accomplishment of those 
objects on which their fame is founded. Such 
exam]3les however are dangerous to youth, who, 
fastening attention chiefly upon the glaring vices and 
the noble exploits of these men, may readily imagine 
that sinful indulgence ordinarily forms no impedi- 
ment in the way of prosecuting successfully the 
greatest undertakings. 

Where there has been one scholar of irregular 
habits, who like Porson, the English Coryphaeus in 
Grecian lore, could be styled at one and the same 
time the glory and the disgrace of his university, 
how many hundreds have altogether failed to arrive 
at eminence, simply from the fact, that instead of 
being lords, they were the slaves of their appetites ? 

But why appeal to the instances which have been 
cited ? Note the facts as they exist among your- 
selves. Who lead their classes ? The idle and the 
dissipated, or the studious and the temperate ? The 
undecided and wavering, or those of firm and inflex- 
ible purpose ? Sometimes we see a conflict between 
a desire for pre-eminence in scholarship and a pro- 
pensity to self-indulgence, and as the one feeling or 
the other preponderates, so has the individual suc- 
ceeded or failed in his nobler aspirations. What 
young man, just entering into business, has the 
fairest prospect of success ? He that is known to 



12 

possess a fair moral character, industrious habits, 
and a thorough knowledge of his profession, trade 
or caUing ? Or he who in his preparatory training 
was idle and inattentive, and now that he is arrived 
at manhood has neither a perfect knowledge of his 
business, nor an ability to use to the best advantage 
what he does know, from the simple fact that his 
unsubdued inclinations will not permit him to exert 
himself as he ought to do. 

Bear it in mind then, my hearers, that nothing 
great, that nothing honourable, that nothing useful 
can reasonably be expected from him who fails to 
govern himself. He that would strive for the mastery 
must be temperate in all things. He that would 
improve his powers to the greatest possible extent, 
must exercise them to the greatest degree of which 
they are capable. He that would gain the respect 
of his fellow men must be the disciple of virtue. 
Talent, however great, if neglected or perverted is 
unworthy of esteem. Mere power may be regarded 
with wonder, but not with respect. If employed 
for the accomplishment of useful purposes power is 
justly an object of admiration ; if for base and 
wicked ends, an object of detestation. Whatever 
then may be your native powers, let them be prop- 
erly regulated, as well as employed on proper 
objects. If the objects be wrong, the greater your 
talents and your assiduity, the worse will it be for 
the community of which you are a member. If those 



13 

powers be not properly regulated, there must be a 
failure to a greater or less extent in the execution 
of your plans. It is only when with right aims, and 
with minds properly disciplined, and with manners 
sedulously formed, we devote ourselves to some ap- 
propriate employment, that we can hope to accom- 
plish the greatest amount of good. These requisites 
for doing good can exist to any extent only in con- 
nexion with the strictest temperance. The man 
that possesses them is a temperate man. Were he 
not, he could not have them. 

Since then temperance is so essential, shall we not 
inquire when and how temperate habits may be best 
acquired ? 

This brings me to the object which I have more 
immediately in view, viz : to urge upon my youthful 
hearers the importance of cultivating, with the 
utmost assiduity, their moral habits, and to make 
some suggestions as to the proper mode of cultivat- 
ing them. 

I need scarcely remark, that a person^s character 
and standing are in general determined by the train- 
ing he receives, and the habits he acquires in early 
life. If therefore a youth purposes to be temperate 
in manhood, he must not while a youth revel in the 
delights of sinful pleasure. He must, while the 
task is easy, learn to curb his appetites and to deny 
his passions, and to form the purpose and the habit 
of regulating his whole deportment by the rules of 



14 

sobriety and chasteness. In lessons of this kind he 
cannot be too early instructed. The lessons indeed 
should be suited to the age of the learner ; and in 
avoiding the extreme of self-indulgence, the pupil 
should not be taught habitual penance. Let there 
be neither the freedom of Sybaris nor the austerity 
of Sparta. Temperance is the proper government 
of the appetites and passions. Within certain limits 
they may be lawfully indulged. . These limits are 
best learned from the word of G-od ; and we should 
be careful not to go beyond them ; and if in given 
cases entire abstinence be necessary in order to 
attain the end in view, such abstinence must be re- 
garded as a part of the requisite regimen for the 
formation of temperate habits. 

In all ordinary cases, a youth thus trained will, 
when arrived at full age, be able to govern himself ; 
and to curb those passions, which if allowed full play 
would hurry him on to ruin ; while the young 
devotee of pleasure, in similar circumstances, will 
have neither the ability nor the inclination to resist 
those cravings of indulged appetite which take no 
denial, and the renewed gratification of which renders 
him more of a slave than he was before. 

In youth there is passion, but it is rather ardent 
than strong ; and if rightly curbed it ma}^ be turned 
to good account ; otherwise in manhood it will be 
almost incapable of control. On this point there 
exists among the young a practical error of the most 



15 

serious character, viz: that they can indulge their 
appetites and their passions just to any extent they 
please, and at their mere will they can refrain from all 
indulgence ; not recollecting, if they indeed believe 
it to be a fact, that every instance of such indulgence 
renders them less disposed and less able to refrain. 
Expostulate with a youth who has occasionally fallen 
under the power of appetite, on the danger of his 
situation, he is tempted to smile at your supposed 
simplicity. He has no idea of becoming a drunkard 
or a debauchee, no, not he ; and confident of his 
strength he fears no danger, inexperienced he sees 
none. And yet if he would but reflect seriously on 
the subject, he must be convinced that many a victim 
of lust and appetite became such by a course similar 
to his own. Although he sees the fatal termination 
of that course, in the case of every one else, he im- 
agines that in his case there must be something dif- 
ferent from that of the individuals whose imhappy 
end is presented to his view, and that this difference 
is in his favour. Learning also that there have been 
those who indulged, yet escaped the awful wreck of 
health and fame, he hopes that he shall be equally 
fortunate, and that though he may partake of the 
cup of Circe, he shall not share the fabled fate of the 
companions of the Grecian chief. All such are on 
the brink of a fearful steep, from which they may pos- 
sibly withdraw in time to escape the awful end of 
those who slide, ere they think, into the flood of 



16 

eternal woe ; yet it is far more probable, that they 
will lose their hold and be lost forever. And it often 
happens, that they are the least apprehensive of 
danger, who are farthest advanced in the career of 
shame and ruin. Their true position is seen by all 
but themselves. For themselves they have no anx- 
iety ; all their solicitude is generously bestowed on 
others. 

Let the character, position and prospects of such 
an one be faithfully portrayed, and let the picture 
be presented to his view ; will he recognize the 
likeness? Will he not rather conjecture that it is 
intended for some one else, one perhaps to him 
unknown ? 

Do not, my youthful hearer, if a faithful monitor 
should tell you of his fears and of your danger, treat 
his remarks as idle tales. In a matter of this kind, 
he will be more likely to perceive the truth than 
you yourself ; and there is but little reason to think 
that he will exaggerate your departures from the 
path of rectitude and temperance. It is far more prob- 
able that he will say less than he thinks, for fear of 
giving offence, and thus defeating his object in his 
expostulations with you, on the subject of your con- 
duct. Receive then all such expostulations in the 
same spirit that they are given ; take the friendly 
warning, and extricate yourself without delay from 
your perilous position. Commonly the youth that 
permits himself to pass the bounds of sobriety once 



17 

will find it easier to do so the second time than the 
first : and every succeeding aberration from the path 
of sobriety will render the next one less difficult. If 
then you have never fallen under the power of hist 
or appetite, maintain jour present ground, you can 
more readily do it now than after a single fall. If 
you have once and again been overcome, seek to re- 
cover yourself before you shall be brought to contend 
with the force of a corrupt habit superadded to the 
natural cravings of sinful propensities. The attempt 
at recovery must be made before you reach this 
point ; or it will be almost hopeless. Ever remem- 
ber that the victim of appetite is the victim of Hell ; 
and let it be your fervent prayer to Almighty God, 
that through the gracious aid and teaching of his 
Holy Spirit, you may be kept from aU temptation to 
sinful indulgence, and be enabled to lead temperate 
and virtuous lives. 

Let us now consider by what means the habits of 
temperance are to be formed. In doing so, I shall 
not discriminate minutely between the case of those 
who hitherto have been kept from excessive indul- 
gence, and of those who occasionally have listened 
to the solicitations of depraved appetite and passion. 
The preventive and the cure are the same. The 
thoughts must be employed on other and nobler 
matters, and the feelings enlisted in their behalf. It 
was by directing their attention to the victor's crown, 
and by exciting the spirit of emulation, that the 



18 

competitors in the ancient games were rendered wil- 
ling to submit to the severe regimen imposed upon 
them. And it was in hopes of correcting the dissolute 
habits of his son, that Phocian, the noblest of the 
Athenians, so justly celebrated for his integrity, his 
eloquence, and his military skill, permitted him to 
make trial in the foot races of the Panathenea, "not 
that he set any value'' says Plutarch, "on the victory^ 
but that the preparations and the previous exercise 
might be of service to him, the young man being of 
a disorderly turn and addicted to drinking." And it 
is sometimes the case, that by exciting powerfully 
some other passion, he who was in danger of becom- 
ing the victim of some sensual pleasure has been res- 
cued from the threatening ruin and has risen to emi- 
nence and fame. A desire to shine in the national 
councils, and to exert a controlling influence in the af- 
fairs of state, occasionally has succeeded in suppressing 
the clamour of less noble passions. A love of wealth 
and the self-denial requisite to its attainment have 
effectually restrained for the time being all disposition 
to share in the revel. But unhappily if these new 
incentives to action should cease to exert their influ- 
ence, through disappointment often attendant upon the 
most vigorous efforts, or from the men referred to 
having obtained the objects of their earnest pursuit, 
there is danger that they will finally fall under the 
power of appetite, and tarnish their fair fame, won 
by so much self-denial and toil. 



19 

It is evident then that this plan of remedying the 
evil is merely the introducing of a new disease in 
the room of another more immediately destructive. 
It does not restore the system to soundness and 
health. Something more is requisite, if you would 
acquire habits that will remain unshaken by vicis- 
situdes of fortune, and by the combined assaults of 
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and of the 
pride of life. You must keep in view the unfading 
crown of glory, and the purity of heart and life nec- 
cessary to its attainment. It will be of but little 
avail to have your eye upon the crown, if you lose 
sight of the conditions on which it is conferred. 
Purity of mind is absolutely essential to purity of 
life and morals. - 'No mind can be pure, in which 
corrupting thoughts are permitted to find a lodge- 
ment, and corrupting thoughts can be excluded only 
by the introduction of those of a difi*eront character. 
Happy indeed is it for us, that our minds have this 
power over their own operations ; and that they can 
exclude such thoughts as are not agreeable to them ; 
but unhappily for many, they often exert this power 
for the exclusion of subjects, the due consideration 
of which might be attended with the very best results. 
Some persons imagine that they are not responsible 
for the character of their thoughts ; but surely, if the 
remark just made be true, it is an idle imagination. 
Under this false impression however, many a youth 
gives full play to his fancy, and in thought and with- 



20 

out remorse indulges in sinful pleasure. Xo such 
person can be a man of pure morals. The fountain 
of thought and action is polluted, and so must the 
issues be. No person can be a successful competitor 
for the crown of life, unless in the words of the 
Psalmist, he can say, "I hate vain thoughts, but 
thy law do I love". And if we would keep our 
minds pure, and our lives unspotted, we must labour 
to have the word of God abiding in us. This will 
effectually restrain the rising of evil desires ; and 
then our loftier aspirations will become more easy 
and free. Have you such aspirations ? Do you long 
for glory and for honour ? Seek then the crown of 
life. This is an object to attain which might satisfy 
the loftiest ambition. It is a prize for conquerors 
only. It is at once the evidence and reward of merit. 
It confers the highest honour and the truest glory. 
Was there glory in the contests of the Grecian games, 
because the struggle was self-denying and arduous ? 
How much more so, in the case of which we speak. 
To obtain the prize, you must be untiring in your 
efforts, and persevere through life. Was there glory 
in the fact, that the crown was awarded in the pres* 
ence of admiring and applauding multitudes, who 
were eye-witnesses of their exploits ? So too in the 
presence of assembled worlds shall the Judge bestow 
the crown of life. Was there glory in the fact, that 
on his return to his home the victor entered the city 
in a triumphal car, the walls being levelled for his 



21 

admission ? So too in the Christian contests, through 
the opening heavens shall the victor pass in triumph 
to the place of the saints' everlasting rest. Is there 
not in all this, glory sufficient to satisfy your ambition? 
Would you have some additional trophies to adorn 
your triumph ? If so, listen, while I speak of an 
enterprise, the complete execution of which will af- 
ford full employment for all your powers ; and will 
secure for you the highest honours that man can 
reach. I mean the work of saving souls. In pro- 
portion to your fidelity and success in this work, 
will be your reward and glory. "They that be wise,'' 
says the prophet Daniel, " shall shine as the firma- 
ment, and they turn many to righteousness, as the 
stars forever and ever." 

Picture to yourselves the aged Apostle to the 
Gentiles, when, at the close of a life devoted to the 
glory of God and the salvation of his fellow-men, he 
he is enabled to say, "I am now ready to be offered, 
and the time of my departure is at hand, I have 
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I 
have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid for me 
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the right- 
eous Judge shall give me that day ; and not to me 
only, but unto all them that love his appearing." 
2 Tim: iv. 6-8. With what calmness and dignity 
does he contemplate his departure, and the cruel 
death with which his career on earth was to be ter- 
minated ? "I am ready to be off'ered, and the time of 



22 

my departure is at hand." Nothing remains for 
him but to submit to the stroke and to receive his 
reward : "a crown of righteousness/' the value of 
which is increased by the consideration, that it is not 
to be conferred upon him alone. What noble feel- 
ing this, to exult in view of the advancement of oth- 
ers to like dignity. Who would not desire to die 
like Paul ? His death is glorious, but the glory ends 
not here. Every one in all future time rescued from 
eternal ruin, and brought through his instrumentali- 
ty to participate in the glory and joys of heaven, 
will add to the lustre of his crown of rejoicing. If 
they that turn many to righteousness shall shine 
as the stars forever and ever, what will be the lustre 
of that constellation which includes in it the star of 
which we speak, unrivalled as is that star in magni- 
tude and brilliancy ; and unseen only when looked 
for amidst the unclouded effulgence of the Sun of 
Righteousness. 

If Paul could say to the Thessalonians, 'Tor 
what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are 
not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ 
at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy." 
1 Thes: 19-20. What will be the exultation of this 
faithful herald of salvation, when he shall behold 
assembled on the heights of Zion an almost innumer- 
able company saved, through his labours, from igno- 
rance, degradation and the wrath of God ; and made 
to share in the joy and triumph of the saints redeem- 



23 

ed through the blood of Christ ? The merit of their 
salvation belongs to Christ alone ; not so the joy at 
their deliverance. This is shared b}^ all his servants, 
and especially by those whom he counts worthy to 
be employed in the great work of saving souls. 
Would you not be partakers of this joy ? What is 
the satisfaction arising from the belief, that our la- 
bours have been most successfully expended in 
improving the temporal condition of our fellow men 
to the joy that he must experience, who in heaven 
shall be permitted to see the rich fruits of all his 
sufferings and toil, in the everlasting happiness of 
even one immortal soul ? Far be it from me however 
to say one word in disparagement of efforts to elevate 
the human race" and to better their condition in mat- 
ters pertaining to this life; such efforts are honourable 
and useful, neither are they inconsistent with others 
intended to secure eternal interests, yet for impor- 
tance they cannot compare with those labours, the 
direct object of which is to save the immortal soul. 

To this work apply thyself, youthful aspirant for 
honour. The work is difficult, and calls for self- 
denial ; but it is a glorious work, and it will repay 
your utmost exertions. Let us now suppose your 
earthly career terminated, and you about to enter 
into the immediate presence of your Judge ; in what 
character would you prefer to appear before him ? 
Would it be that of the learned judge, the able 
statesman, the gallant defender of your country^s 



24 

rights, the man of letters or of science, the faithful 

teacher, the upright citizen, or in that of the devoted 

missionary of the cross ? You might appear in any 

one of these characters, and yet meet the approba- 

bation of your Judge, and be welcomed by him as a 

faithful servant, worthy to enter into his everlasting 

joy. And it is doubtless the duty of some christian 

men, to engage in these various callings ; and their 

doing so does not hinder them from participating in 

efforts to interest their fellow men in the great work 

of salvation j yet they have not the high honour of 

him who is counted worthy to undergo trial, shame 

and toil, to carry the tidings of salvation to those 

that are perishing for lack of knowledge. If the 

post of danger be the post of honour, then is there 

honour for the missionary ; not indeed the honour 

that comes from man, but the honour that comes 

from God. If after bidding farewell, to friends, and 

home, and native land, you steer your course to some 

heathen shore in tropic or polar clime, and there 

spend your days in faithfully labouring to plant 

the standard of the cross, and to win souls for Christ ; 

you need desire no higher honour ; none higher can 

be conferred on you in this life, and in the world to 

come, your reward will be proportioned to your 

zeal, your fidelity, your sufferings and your toil. 

Think you Paul does not consider himself amply 

compensated for his shipwrecks, for his stripes, for 

his perils on the deep and on the land, by being 



25 

permitted to witness the happiness of those who 
through his labours have been brought to Mount 
Zion on high, to partake of the joys of the saints, 
and to unite in their anthems of praise unto him, 
who having washed them in his blood has made them 
kings and priests unto God his Father ? 

Every faithful missionary may hope to have like 
cause for joy. 

Think not however that you will be secure, be- 
cause you purpose to engage in this work, or that 
you will be safe when you have once entered upon 
it. You must prepare yourself for it by the most 
rigid self-denial. If the private christian needs to be 
temperate in all things to obtain the crown, much 
more is this the case with the minister of salvation. 
For he has not merely the same work to accomplish 
for himself that the private christian has ; but he has 
an additional work, and one which demands his con- 
stant attention. Paul did not think himself safe, be- 
cause he was engaged in labours more abundant than 
the other Apostles. What says this hero of the cross ? 
"But I keep under my body and bring it into subject- 
ion; lest by any means when I have preached to others 
I myself should be a cast- away." Who then without 
w^atchfulness may consider himself safe ? The Apos- 
tle suggests the possibility, and observation seems to 
establish the fact, that there have been instances of 
men, whose labours have been rendered effectual to 
the salvation of others, and yet they themselves have 



26 

been lost ; a solemn and fearful lesson to all wlio are 
in the gospel ministry, or who have that ministry in 
view. 

But be your profession or occupation what it may, 
we must all take part in this conflict. If we gain the 
mastery, we shall gain the crown. If we fail in the 
contest, we shall miss the prize. Strive then earnest- 
ly for the mastery. Be strong in the Lord, and in 
the power of his might, praying with all prayer and 
supplication for divine aid and guidance. And may 
God in his infinite mercy grant, that we may all come 
off more than conquerors through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 



ADDKESS 

TO 

THE SENIOR CLASS OF 1859. 



Mij young friends of the Senior Class : 

In the discourse to which you have just listen- 
ed, I have endeavoured to impress upon your minds 
the important truth, that you cannot hope to accom- 
pHsh anything, that will be of lasting good to others 
or of lasting honour to yourselves, unless you be in 
all things strictly temperate. And you have doubt- 
less observed, that the temperance of which I have 
spoken is not simply freedom from all excess in the 
indulgence of appetite, it is self-government in 
indulgences of every kind. With this self-control, 
you will be able to exert your natural faculties to 
the utmost extent of which they are capable ; and 
accomplish an amount of good, which you could 
scarcely have imagined to be within your power. I 
take it for granted, that it is your desire and purpose 
to live to some useful end ; and whatever mav be 
your natural endowments, with the training you 
have had, it is possible for every one of you to ren- 



28 

der valuable service to your fellow men and to the 
church of God. Do not think, that you can do but 
little for the benefit of others, because you possess 
only moderate abilities. The most of the good that 
is done in our world is done by this class of persons ; 
men not of genius, but of virtuous habits and of un- 
tiring industry, who give themselves with all dili- 
gence to the calling or profession which they have 
chosen, and labour assidously to discharge the duties 
pertaining to their respective positions in life. I 
would not imderrate true genius, wherever found it 
is a gift of God, one of unspeakable value, and one 
too, the prossession of which involves heavy respon- 
sibilities. If these are fully met, the man of genius 
will merit the esteem and reverence of his fellow- 
men, and will receive the approval of his God ; but 
genius neglected or perverted has no claim to our 
respect ; and deserves the reprobation of the vir- 
tuous and good. But no man, whatever may be his 
talents, can be an honour or a blessing to his race, 
if he be without self-control, and if there be any dif- 
ference, the man of genius has greater need of that 
self-control of which we speak, than the man of in- 
ferior abilities. For if he fall a victim to appetite 
and passion, he will be the greater curse to himself 
and to others. 

To whatever class then, as it respects intellect, you 
may severally belong, let me pray you to make it 
your daily aim throughout life, to acquire and retain 



29 

complete command over yourselves. Aim also to 
form a right estimate of your talents and of your re- 
sponsibilities, neither thinking of yourselves more 
highly than you ought to think ; nor underrating the 
value of those talents with which God has entrusted 
you. For these talents, be they few or many, you 
are to give account to the Judge of quick and dead, 
at his appearing : and the reward or punishment will 
be in strict proportion to your faithfulness or neglect. 
2. In determining what shall be your profession or 
calling for life, let me urge each one of you to decide 
this question in the fear of God : and after fervent 
prayer to Him, for divine guidance in coming to a 
decision. In entering upon a consideration of this 
question, do so with the full intent of engaging in 
that work, in which you honestly believe you can do 
most for the glory of God and for the good of your 
fellow men. Remember that the question is not 
whether you can be a christian, and save your own 
soul, and yet devote yourself to this or to that call- 
ing, but in what calling you can best do your whole 
duty to God and man. In determining this point, 
you must have respect to the order of your talents, 
yom' opportunity for their improvement, and the 
leadings of divine providence : these are all to be 
taken into the account, in forming your judgment. 
For your own sake, for the sake of your fellow men, 
and above all for Christ's sake, seek to make an 
honest decision. It may require you to give up all 



30 

hope of attaining to wealth, and honour and influ- 
ence : but remember that the reward will be in pro- 
portion to the self-denial. " And every one," says 
Christ, ''that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or 
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or 
lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred- 
fold, and shall inherit everlasting life," 

3. To whatever profession or business you may 
devote yourselves, seek to qualify yourselves tho- 
roughly for the proper performance of its duties. 
Remember that you have no right to jeopard the in- 
terests of others, for want of the requisite knowledge 
and skill to discharge aright the duties of the profes- 
sion you have assumed. The more important the 
profession, the greater is your obligation to be pro- 
ficients in it: — And in this connexion, let me advise 
you, in whatever profession you may be employed, 
to make some particular department of it a subject 
of special attention. So numerous are the interrup- 
tions to which a professional man is subjected, 
by the necessary demands made upon him, that few 
men can find the time, even if they have the ability, 
to devote themselves to the enlargement of the bound- 
aries of knowledge in all departments of their sever- 
al professions : and yet if they would each one select 
some one branch, and aim to make themselves tho- 
roughly acquainted with it, their difierent contribu- 
tions, though individually small, would in the aggre- 
gate add much to the stock of knowledge previously 



31 

attained. The course suggested does not involve a 
neglect of other departments of knowledge, and es- 
pecially in one's own profession, with all parts of 
which he should make himself familiar : but it merely 
implies a more minute and careful examination of a 
particular branch than it is in one's power to bestow 
upon all. The habit of mind formed and strength- 
ened by this plan of study is one of great value in it- 
self : and will be found of real service in our inqui- 
ries into matters foreign to our ordinary field of re- 
search. Kot only so, but the thorough investigation 
of any one subject often requires a careful study of 
others related to it : and will call for a range of in- 
quiry, that would not have been thought of before- 
hand. 

In the selection of the particular branch which 
should be made the special object of attention, regard 
should of course be had to the natural tastes of the 
individual concerned, to his opportunities for study, 
and to the probability that his researches or his ex- 
periments can be made to tell on the advancement of 
knowledge. To illustrate these remarks, take the 
case of a Minister of the Gospel. Let him select 
Scripture-history, or a particular portion of it, as his 
subject for close and special study : to confirm and il- 
lustrate it, by references to ancient traditions, an- 
cient usages, other histories, sculptured remains, &c., 
accounts of modern travels through the lands where 
the incidents in Scripture -history occurred. Or let 



32 

him take up the subject of prophecy, study its fulfil- 
ment, explain the true method of inter pretation, 
and the limits within which a judicious commentator 
will confine himself. If his taste is in a different line, 
let him expound some one book or more, and devote 
himself to the study of the types and symbols of 
Scripture : or make himself thoroughly acquainted 
with the important truths and doctrines taught in the 
holy scriptures, and with the best methods of stating 
and defending these doctrines. 

Should any one devote himself to scientific pursuits, 
let him not vainly strive to excel in every department, 
but make himself master of some particular one. 
With great propriety, and with great profit, he may 
give such attention to all the various branches of sci- 
ence, as will give him a clear idea of their nature and 
extent, and of the relations in which they stand to 
each other. 

So too in the professions of law and of medicine. Let 
the physician and the lawyer each explore the whole 
of his vast field of labour, and be prepared to meet 
all the demands that may be made upon him for his 
services, in the ordinary course of professional busi- 
ness : still it will be greatly to his advantage, and 
also to his reputation, if by minute and close atten- 
tion to some one branch of his profession, he becomes 

eminent in it. 

"While on this head, let me caution you against a 

weakness not unfrequently met with : viz., a desire 



33 

to appear learned in matters out" of the range of 
one's professional pursuits. It is seldom that the at- 
tempt does not expose the person who makes it to 
contempt and ridicule. Nothing but an overweening 
opinion of one's self could induce any person to be 
guilty of such folly : unless it be his belief, that al- 
though he knows but little, his hearers or readers 
know still less. 

On another head, kindred to the one just spoken 
of, let me also caution you. '' Never aim to appear 
profound." Rather express yourself in the plainest 
terms you can ; and you will obtain the very thing 
which every wise man aims at, if you are able to 
express yourself so clearly and distinctly, that every 
one who hears feels the force of what you say, and 
almost imagines that he could do what you have 
done. Especially should you heed this caution, 
should it be your duty to instruct others in things 
pertaining to their spiritual and eternal welfare. 
The clothing of common thoughts in the garb of philo- 
sophy is as incongruous as the use of the buskin would 
have been in the earlier comic representations of the 
Grecian stage. Avoid it every where, but especially 
in the pulpit. 

My next advice is this. Exercise yourselves, to 
have always a conscience void of offence toward 
God and toward man. Do everything from a 
sense of duty, "and whatever you do, in word or 
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus ; giving 



34 

thanks to God and the Father by him.' -Colossians: 
III. 19. Ponder the admonitions contained in the 
chapter read for our instruction this morning. Oc- 
curring as they do immediately after the apostle's 
argument concerning the necessity of justification by 
faith and of cognate matters ; they shew us that the 
doctrine of salvation through grace has no tendency 
to encourage continuance in sin ; but on the contrary 
calls for holy living and the practice of every virtue. 
In no way can you more effectually add to your use- 
fulness or comfort, than by giving all heed to the 
precepts in the twelth chapter of Romans. 

Would, that I could bid you farewell in the full be- 
lief, that you were all sons of God, devoted to his 
service, and that your lives would be spent in efforts to 
honour your Redeemer and to promote the spiritual 
interests of your fellow men. Then I should have 
but little or no apprehension for the future. You 
might be cut off while yet in the spring time of life, 
and before your plans for active usefulness were 
begun to be put in execution, or were even fully 
matured in your own minds ; yet having a purpose to 
serve God, you will thereby only have a change of 
place, and be permitted to render a higher and bet- 
ter service in heaven than you could ever render on 
earth. The supposition is by no means an improb- 
able one. 

One who in his infancy had with many prayers 
been dedicated to God, and with many pious coun- 



35 

sels had been trained up in the knowledge of his 
duty, would this day have been of your number, had 
it not pleased our heavenly Father to remove him 
from the associations and friendships of earth, and 
translate his spirit, as we hope, to a holier and hap- 
pier sphere of activity and usefulness. Anticipations 
that he would have an honorable and useful career 
were freely indulged by his beloved father and other 
friends : and yet how suddenly, and, were it not for 
our hope of a future life, we might say, how sadly 
were these fond expectations disappointed. If as we 
trust, he died in the faith of Christ, we may say of 
him, he is not dead, but sleepeth : and when Christ 
Cometh, he will awake his sleeping dust, and bid it 
come forth to an unending life. 

The present occasion, and the recent decease of the 
late venerable President of our College, serve to re- 
mind me of the /30unsels, which for thirty-one years, 
he was wont to give to successive classes, the mem- 
bers of which having completed their College course 
of study listened to him as you now listen to me, for 
the last time. Many of those to whom his counsels 
were given preceded him to the grave : and at the 
last he himself was permitted to rest from his labours, 
and to receive his reward ; and the years can not be 
many, when he who now addresses you will give 
place to some other, and go to give an account of his 
stewardship ; and among other things of the fidelity 
with which he has instructed you in regard to your 



36 

duty. And my young friends, unite with me in the 
fervent prayer, that I. may end my course with joy ; 
and that I may meet you all, not one of you wanting^ 
around the throne of God in heaven. 



